February 16th 2009

A Promise Not Kept

“A person who doesn’t give a promised gift is like clouds and wind that don’t bring rain.”Proverbs 25:14 (NLT)

Promises are so easily made, but who has not discovered how difficult they can sometimes be to keep?

This proverb reminds us that every time a promise is not kept, an opportunity is lost and someone is disappointed.

Maybe no one is more disappointed than we are with ourselves when a promise we’ve made goes unfulfilled?

It’s fairly obvious that we live in a day where we need to work on promises on both ends.

On the front end, we all need to be more careful about the promises that we make.
We hate to have to say no, and so we often find ourselves making promises that we really can’t keep. Oh, we’d like to keep them, but there is just not enough time to do everything we’re promising.

The back end of the promise is even more important to work on. We need to keep our promises, even when it hurts.

Nothing will make me more careful with my promises than the determination that I really am going to keep them.

In a world where promises mean nothing and “legally binding agreements” mean everything, we as believers need to be different.

I’m not talking about those times when an accident on the motorway causes a 2-hour delay so you can’t make that promised appointment.

This is about an invitation by friends to take you out to a great quiet restaurant, conflicting with that trip to McDonalds you promised your 6 year old.

We’ve all let our selfishness cause us to slip in this area of keeping promises.

What you can do now is say,

Prayer
“Father, thank You that You always keep Your promises.
Forgive me for the times when I have been selfish and failed to keep mine.
God, by your grace give me the wisdom to make promises I can keep and the strength to keep the promises that I make.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen.